Florida is crapping out with its anti-gambling stance.

The state cannot pay for education, but we have billions to buy a sugar company to improve the environment. It seems to me that an educated population would be a larger improvement to our environment. The sugar producer provides employment and pays taxes. Our state government and our leaders do not get the big picture. Times are tough, and we do not have the funds to pay for this type of an environmental project.

I have found that our state representatives are at odds with the Las Vegas gambling that is in place at the Hard Rock casino. The state of Florida should have been a full gambling state years ago. We are a tourist state. We need to compete with the Caribbean islands and other states that provide full casino activity for tourism. If casino gambling was operating in Florida, our tax problems would be over and the hotel business in Florida would grow beyond most people's wildest imaginations.

We need a big change in attitude. The dog racing, horse racing and other forms of gambling do not bring the hotel and tourist crowd to Florida. We need a Nevada-style casino. Florida could be greater than Nevada, but we must welcome the casino operators.